POS1575-PARE WORKING AND HEALTH STATUS IN NORWEGIAN PATIENTS WITH TAKAYASU ARTERITIS
Authors: T. Garen, A. Tollisen, H. Andersson, B. Gudbrandsson, Ø. Palm
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a rare vasculitis of large vessels, mainly in young women, with a point prevalence of 25.6/10 6 in a Norwegian population. TAK is most prevalently limited to the aortic arch and its branches (Type 1) among North Europeans (1). Early symptoms include fever, myalgia and loss of appetite. Later, irreversible vascular damage and ischemic symptoms with claudication of the extremities may occur. We have previously observed a reduced life expectancy, mainly due to cardiovascular complications and a median age among those deceased of only 58 years (2). These findings clearly indicate that TAK may have severe impact on the wellbeing of the patients and their physical capacity. Furthermore, being part of the working life is a major component of life but is affected in chronic autoimmune diseases (3,4) Objectives (i) To describe general health status and quality of life in patients with different working status. (ii) To estimate the rates of patients having paid work or receiving disability benefits, compared to the general Norwegian population. Methods Patients with TAK registered in “The Norwegian Systemic Connective Tissue Disease and Vasculitis Registry” (NOSVAR) were included. All patients fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria and/or the modified Ishikawa diagnostic criteria for TAK. (3). General health status was measured with 10-cm visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain and fatigue, ranging from 0 (best possible score) to 10 (worst possible score) and with Patients´ global assessment (PtGA) of health measured by a five-point Likert scale with scores ranging from 1 (very good health) to 5 (very bad health). The SF-36 was applied to measure health related quality of life and included 8 scales with score ranging from 0 (worse) to 100 (best). Disease duration was defined as the time from diagnosis to date of registration. Working full- or part time was defined as paid work. We adjusted for age, gender and residence counties in southeast Norway using reference data from Norway Statistics. Indirect standardization with 95% confidence interval rates was calculated. Descriptive analyses were conducted. Results Patients with paid work were more educated compared with those receiving disability benefits (81% vs 19% p=0.031). Patients receiving disability benefits reported higher levels of pain (3,4 vs.1,4, p=0.024) and disease activity (3,8 vs. 0,8, p=0.025), more frequently claudication in legs (83% vs. 17%, p= 0.009) and impaired quality of life measured with SF- 36, physical functioning (66 vs 88, p=0.002) and role physical (32 vs 65, p=0.017) compared to patients with paid work/students (Figure 1). Compared with the age and gender matched general population, the disability rate of female patients was 16 % higher, adjusted ratio (CI 95%) 2 (1,2-3,3), p=0.038. The paid work rate was 51% lower in women with TAK compared to the general population, adjusted ratio (CI 95%) 0,38 (0,23-0,64), p=0.001 . Conclusion TAK-patients receiving disability benefits reported lower health status and lower quality of life by physical functioning and role physical in SF 36. Work disability in female TAK patients was 16 % higher and for paid work 51 % lower compared to the general population. References [1]Gudbrandsson B, Molberg Ø, Garen T, Palm Ø, Arthritis Care Resb (Hoboken), 2017 Sept;69:1384-1390 [2]Garen T, Lerang K, Hoffmann-Vold AM, Andersson H, Midtvedt Ø, Brunborg C, Kilian K, Gudbrandsson B, Gunnarsson R, Norby G, Chaudhary A, Thoen J, Forseth KØ, Fresjar K, Førre Ø, Haugen M, Haga HJ, Gran JT, Gilboe IM, Molberg Ø, Palm Ø. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2019 Feb 1;58(2):313-320. [3]Abularrage CJ, Slidell MB, Sidawy AN, Kreishman P, Amdur RL, Arora S. Quality of life of patients with Takayasu’s arteritis. Journal of vascular surgery. 2008;47(1):131-6; discussion 6-7. [4]Janine M Ouimet 1 , Janet E Pope, Iris Gutmanis, John Koval Work disability in scleroderma is greater than in rheumatoid arthritis and is predicted by high HAQ scores. 2008;2:44-52. doi: 10.2174/1874312900802010044. Epub 2008 Sep 23. Disclosure of Interests None declared